Friday, December 01, 2006

THE ACE OF CUPS

The Ace of Cups from The Tarot of the Cat People
Instructions and Designs by Karen Kuykendall
Published by U.S. Games

I'm not really doing my usual post about a card here today (i.e. I'll address The Ace of Cups more fully in a future post). I'm rather low in spirits and just pulled a card at random from the above deck asking for some comment on my inner state. LOL! This could not be a lovelier card to get, or one that feels more impossible for me to fully take in right now. The Ace of Cups is all about abundance, fulfillment, happiness, pleasure, goodness overflowing ... phew! It's also one of the very few cards that rarely shows up in a negative light. I suppose what I can do is take in the reminder that these positive things are still possible. That nothing lasts forever, not even really blue moods. Besides, I do really love that cat! It always makes me smile to see its ecstatic pose and expression. And that is truly an Ace of Cups gift that I can accept right now.

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Resource: The Universal Fantasy Tarot, a recently published deck that I really want to get; lovely designs, IMHO. Even in a blue mood I can still lust after Tarot decks, so I guess all is not lost. :-D

Please see the top of the sidebar for my background with the Tarot and a recommendation to beginners.

PLEASE NOTE: All photos on this blog designated as cards in Roswila's "The Found Tarot" are by Patricia Kelly (a/k/a Roswila)

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"...No student will ever exhaust the possibilities of this extraordinary symbolic alphabet, any more than one person can exhaust the possibilities of a language." BOTA Tarot Course

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"Tarot cards are like people. We get to know them more or less well, but never completely. And like people, they change over time and with experience of them. This is not to say we can't really know a card. Anymore than one would say one doesn't really know one's best friend or mate or lover. Simply that with these cards we form, as with people, many-faceted, living, changing relationships." Roswila

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MY TAROT BACKGROUND: I've studied, collected and taught Tarot for almost 40 years, collecting many, many notes about meanings, approaches, and layouts I've seen or developed for the cards. I do not usually post the more traditional meanings as I learned them, but only those that are -- at least to me -- less common as they occur to me (many with a decidedly psychological bent). I ultimately offer Tarot meaning and other Tarot-related posts hoping to contribute to the rich and constantly evolving universe of The Tarot. But even more so, to encourage you to explore the wide variety of Tarot art, and maybe even to learn to read the Tarot for yourself and reap its rich rewards.

IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATION TO BEGINNERS: What I share here is not intended to be a comprehensive look at any one card. These simply are what I consider to be somewhat less usual ways I've come across of relating to a card, both in terms of image and meanings. Books and web sites abound for the more traditional and common meanings of the Tarot cards. If you are a beginner, I highly encourage you try some of the links listed below, and as resources at the bottoms of posts here. Tarot is an extremely diverse and exciting field.

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"...faced with silent pictures destined to make him think, his task consists in discovering in them the things that are hidden within himself." – Oswald Wirth in "Tarot of the Magicians"

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"I like the tarot because it works like poetry and because you don’t really have to ‘believe in’ anything. It’s there to be used. The symbols are remarkably durable and beautiful; they float out to encompass all kinds of meanings.” – Alice Notley, poet

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"The Tarot is an ever progressing rendition or map of the inner structures of consciousness. It is a language in itself, a universal language, and its individual cards form a precise alphabet spelled out again and again in new terms to awaken those who seek to know the Self." -- John Starr Cooke, designer/channeler of The New Tarot for the Aquarian Age.

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"I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the Heart's affection and the truth of the Imagination." John Keats, poet

About Me

Retired, I'm grateful to be able to indulge in daily blogging, taking digital photos (on which I work daily), writing poetry every day (mostly on my night dreams), and other creative efforts as the spirit grabs me. I also enjoy reading my poems and sometimes improvising on one of the musical instruments in my collection (e.g. didjeridu or kalimba), in our retirement community's regular Talent Shows. Occasionally, I offer a large exhibit (and sale) of my photos and poems in our community room, and display a few pix on our Art Wall.

"Ganesh dances joyfully,
each step out of now into now again;
each footprint filling to overflowing with kindness.
Remover of Obstacles, clear me out of my own way;
teach me how to dance lightly through life,
how to spill over with love."